…and we had a blast. A swim-in-the-ocean-at-midnight, play-Farkle-in-the-sand kind of blast. A laugh-until-we-cry, drink-wine-from-the-bottle kind of blast. A hug-so-hard-we-almost-fall-over-because-we-miss-each-other-on-a-minute-by-minute-basis kind of blast. A you’re-the-greatest-friend-no-you’re-the-greatest-friend kind of blast.

THE VERDICT: Well…Sherm ate all the crumbs and one full muffin before they had even cooled. I’m thinking the verdict is good. 🙂 Thank you to Amy over at The Finer Things in Life for showcasing this recipe!

It took me four months to tackle this one with a camera. My first sunrise was where 14th Street connected with the sand at Ocean City with some of my most favorite of family members…but I was too busy swimming the Atlantic at 5:30am to pay attention to grabbing a clicker.

I woke up antsy in anticipation for Chelsea to arrive. Couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t eat. I was stoked. Realizing what time it was, I took the pup out for a potty break and captured the sunrise timeline from my backyard. These images are SOOC (straight out of camera for those who aren’t down with the photo lingo)…I think God edits nature better than Photoshop any day!

There aren’t many shows I avidly watch. The Office…occasionally. NCIS…absolutely. Grey’s Anatomy…you’ve got to be kidding me reallyareyouaskingsuchasillyquestion?! OF COURSE I WATCH GREY’S!!

Earlier this year, however, I fell off the radar of Grey’s-watching. Things were just too busy and I never had the time. So I made it a 101 in 1001 challenge to bring myself up to speed, and in the past week I have cried 3 times for a consecutive number of HOURS for this show…it really does bring out the baby in me.

So…I’m caught up. And for those of you who aren’t and expect to just jump onto the Grey’s wagon when the season returns on 9.24…you’re sadly mistaken. It’s just too deep now…and you have to know the deepness of all that has happened this season to get into season 6.

Many thanks to Hulu and Surf the Channel for having all episodes available…even if they had Japanese subtitles streaming at the bottom of the page. If the shoe fits!!

We didn’t expect to do this, yet God dealt us a purty hand the day we went to the fair. It rained and poured, which presented just enough water (and humidity) for there to be puddles. So I grabbed my niece and nephew and showed them how to do it. Clearly this was their first time……novices. I yelled “Jump!” and they looked at me. Weird Auntie J….that look. So I jumped. The water splashed up around our ankles. They laughed and slightly tapped their toes to…you know…check it out. I began jumping…over and over and over and over again. All at once, as if some childlike reminder popped into their beautiful brains…they snapped. Jump!! Jump!! Jump!! Jump!! Without much notice from those passing by…me and my favorite kiddos made yet another memory (not to mention fulfilled a 101 in 1001).

Much to my disdainment, I’ve really been enjoying this whole baking from scratch once a month goal. It’s really allowed me to enjoy baking and appreciate the complexities essential to producing a well-baked product. For example, until July I had never sifted anything. Anything. Now, I understand why it’s so dandy to do such a thing…it’s easier to mix everything up! There were no clumpy gobs of dry mixture hidden amongst the smooth mixture when I was mixing…how many times can I put the word “mix” in one sentence?! Anyways, on to this months recipe!